Volcanic Ash Dispersion across the Antarctic Plateau: Integrating paleo geochemical studies with ash dispersion modeling
Ginevra Chelli 1,2, Barbara Delmonte2, Andrea Spolaor1,3, Barbara Stenni1
Affiliations: 1Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Via Torino 155, 30170 Venice Mestre, Italy; 2University Milano-Bicocca, DISAT -- Dept. Earth and Environmental Sciences, Milano, Italy; 3Institute of Polar Sciences - National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISP), Via Torino 155, (I) 30172 Venezia-Mestre (VE), Italy
Presentation type: Poster
Presentation time: Tuesday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall
Poster Board Number: 150
Programme No: 3.13.18
Abstract
Tephra studies in high latitude (i.e., Antarctica and Greenland) ice cores are key for understanding past volcanic events and climate. Mt. Melbourne, a stratovolcano in northern Victoria Land, East Antarctica, holds an untapped record of volcanic activity that remains poorly understood due to limited chronostratigraphy and insufficiently detailed data. By analyzing tephra and cryptotephra deposits from a 95-meter ice core extracted at Styx Glacier, as well as shallow ice cores near the volcano, this research seeks to reconstruct the eruptive history of Mt. Melbourne through structural and geochemical characterization of volcanic ash particles. The findings will be integrated with atmospheric ash dispersion modeling to produce probabilistic hazard maps, offering insights into the potential reach and impacts of future ashfall events across the Antarctic Plateau. This multidisciplinary approach not only sheds light on the volcano's eruptive history and climate conditions of the past, but also sets the foundation for a more comprehensive understanding of Antarctic volcanic hazards, combining paleoenvironmental data with modern modeling techniques. The results are expected to have implications for volcanic risk management and interdisciplinary geohazards studies.